BMW and Tesla meet to talk electric cars

In a conference call last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned that BMW and the California-based automaker have met to discuss about electric cars and …

In a conference call last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned that BMW and the California-based automaker have met to discuss about electric cars and ways to partnership:

“For high-speed charging in particular, I think that’s a great area for commonality among manufacturers. In fact, the team from BMW was visiting Tesla last night. We talked about potential ways to collaborate, and one of them was on the Supercharging network. We’re more than happy to have other manufacturers use our Supercharging network and / or to build superchargers and install them, and then maybe have some sort of cross-use agreement.”

BMW of North America spokesman Kenn Sparks has confirmed the meeting. “Both companies are strongly committed to the success of electro-mobility and discussed how to further strengthen the development of electro-mobility on an international level,” he says.

Furthermore, other reports mention Nissan to be joining the same conversation. Nissan, BMW and Tesla are reportedly in discussions to cooperate on charging networks.

Musk also hinted that the talks might expand beyond the Supercharger network, the charging system that Tesla uses for its cars and which is incompatible with the standard used by effectively every other automaker. Many automakers are looking to remove the fragmentation on the market and offer their customers a unified charging network that could help with the adoption of electric vehicles.

California-based automaker of electric cars, Tesla, introduces a new entry-level car in their lineup. The new Tesla Model S 70D starts at $75,000 and qualifies …

CDspeed

Hopefully this will mean a leap in BMW-i evolution, and the i5 will be a vast improvement over the i3. I also hope this means the i5 will not be just a bigger i3, I really like the i3 as a hatchback, but BMW-I needs to be more BMW like. And BMW-i should diversify, they can’t make supercars for some, and hatchbacks for everyone else. Personally I’d love a fully electric four seat convertible, i4, or maybe i6, with the quiet seamless feel of an electric car an open top cruise would be amazing.

yup

I suspect the next i-series will be more “normal”. The i3 is a demonstration in sustainability and efficiency. The i8 a demonstration in sustainability and raw performance. The i5 will probably be a sedan, sportwagon, or SUV merging the i3 and i8 techs to a middle ground. I’m thinking something Volt-like but with ~100 mi BEV range and 200-300 gas range. I think they could do it and keep the car around 3200 lbs still.